Field
Embodiments related to a camera module having electrical connections for an associated electronic device, more specifically, a camera module carrier and a lens barrel having electrical connections to an electrically activated lens filter.
Background Information
Camera modules are incorporated into a variety of consumer electronics devices, including mobile devices such as smart phones, mobile audio players, personal digital assistants, and other portable and desktop computers. A typical camera module includes an optical system used to collect and transmit light from an imaged scene to an imaging sensor. The optical system generally includes at least one lens associated with one aperture stop. The lens collects and transmits light. The aperture stop limits the light collected and includes an aperture through which light is transmitted. The aperture is therefore termed the stop aperture, or alternatively, the camera pupil. The lens and stop aperture are typically supported within the camera module by a lens barrel. The lens barrel may in turn be mounted to a camera module carrier. The camera module carrier may serve as a support structure for various camera module components such as the lens barrel and an actuator (e.g. a voice coil motor (VCM)) to drive movement of the lens and/or stop aperture associated with the barrel. Representatively, in the case of a VCM actuator, a current may be passed through the electromagnet (coil) creating a magnetic field that is repulsive with respect to the VCM permanent magnets, causing the lens to move along an optical axis away from the image sensor during an auto focus (AF) operation. In addition, the VCM may include springs to provide a restoring force which draws the lens toward the image sensor back to a rest position. The VCM may also be used to, for example, shift or tilt the lens to provide an optical image stabilization (OIS) function. To drive VCM operation, the VCM may be connected to a power source associated with the camera module by wires connected to terminals on the VCM.